I met the actual founding member of Mulholland Raceway one night outside of a shop in Ontario (I think) called "Biggies."

At the time I was about 23 years old and had just finished an engine building school. My boss was Tom Nelson--famous engine builder who does 1000-2500hp builds of all makes and models. Tom had asked me to take some parts down to Biggies and get an update on a build. It was raining so I took my Tacoma down with the parts.

Some time went by and the guys left me alone to watch the shop when a giant king ranch truck pulled up. This guy gets out with long hair and we start talking under an awning in the rain. Well...long story short this guy had a twin turbo 1800bhp Mosler MT900 that was at the shop and introduced himself as the founding member of Mulholland Raceway.

My jaw hit the floor as there was no reason not to believe him. He was telling me about the websites coding and all kinds of other stuff that 100% checked out with how the site was run back in 2001. It has since been taken down.

He went on to tell me how he worked on top secret projects for the military and was designing an underwater lab for them at the time. He seemed really crazy so we exchanged emails. He was a major producer of films and a silent partner at one of the major studios--something I confirmed years later when telling this story to a girlfriend's mom who managed their accounts. This woman actually stopped eating when I said his name. "No one meets that guy. He's a ghost." She said she had never met him in the 20 years she had been doing the books for said studio.

The guy apparently has more money than he knows what do with and would let random girls drive him home in his Lamborghini if he was too drunk. He exchanged emails with me and had hundreds of cars and a castle in Italy from the 14th or 17th century. I was supposed to film something with him and he actually exchanged numbers with me then years ago he just disappeared.

I still have the number and it still works. Last I heard he was working on a shop to vintage Porsche racing cars

I've sent him several emails over the last 6 years without ever hearing back from him. He used to buy old Moto GP bikes and register them through a girl he was screwing at the DMV...then he would drive them on Mulholland Highway by Stunt Road.

To this day I've never been able to crack the site's password. He wouldn't tell me but I'm sure if we had talked more I could have gotten it out of him. Really crazy guy, very bizarre meeting and it really closed a chapter of the road's mysteries for me. He sold the Mosler to the owner of Jack Daniel's and told me, "It's a damn shame...he's just going to let it sit in his giant collection like all these rich guys and never drive it."

Wild character...very very Mulholland. I'll never forget it.

You sure Chris? The site owner is getting on with age now.

The website has been continually active since its inception and yes is still accessible.

Remember! ....Think mathematically...read like an assassin.

Would you like a clue, how about two? I will even give you the answer to both.

1. AS Joseph
2. Of chief concern or importance; 2. Supreme in rank, power, or authority. =Paramount.

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How can you have a Founder when car enthusiasts have been running around up there since the 50's ? (and probably earlier!)
Steve Mc Queen- yes, Ken Miles (who had a shop nearby) , various "real" racers that enjoyed the hill
There is no "founder of mulholland racing"

and the founder of TRE has arrived. Agree Dave. I was referring to the website guy.

Same.

MulhollandRaceway.org
 

Thank you Dave for clarifying.
Chris should have been more specific.
He was referring to a site and group called MulhollandRaceway.org which concerns Mulholland Highway, not Mulholland Drive.
They are a very private and "Clandestine" organization.
They have the right to remain that way.

Speed Bumps on Mulholland Drive
 

Now on to some more relevant information.

The Benedict Canyon Association along with residents of Mulholland Drive are pushing for more Speed Bumps being installed like the ones in European Straight located just west of Coldwater Canyon on Mulholland Drive. Here is new information.

ALERT FROM THE LOS ANGELES DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION
Speed Hump Program
Applications Opening 10-6-22

Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s Residential Speed Hump Program will begin accepting new initial applications on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 9:00AM PST. Applications can only be submitted online. A link will be provided on this page on the open application day. Due to high demand, applicants are encouraged to apply promptly once the application period opens. The application period will close when 375 applications (25 in each Council District) have been submitted.

Click on the “Documents” link below to view the updated 2022 Speed Hump Program Evaluation Guidelines and 2022 Fact Sheet that the City uses to determine if your street meets the criteria required for speed hump installation. We encourage you to review these documents before you decide to apply. Only one applicant per street segment request will be allowed. The applicant will be the Block Representative and will be responsible for all related correspondence with our staff.

Speed Humps
Apply for a Speed Hump in your neighborhood
Video - click here to play
Documents - click here
ONLINE APPLICATION - A link will be provided HERE on the open application day (Oct. 6)

Everyone deserves safe streets, but if cars are speeding on your residential street, you can apply for a speed hump to be installed. Before applying, please be aware that completing a speed hump request involves multiple steps of engagement and technical review

I hear a new group may be forming... C.H.R.

Clandestine Hump Removal. They remove anytime dusk til dawn.

King of the Mountain Re-Release
 

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/X6noQLQ8Gk8" title="Rerelease KOTM 1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Jeff H. sent me this June 1, 2022 with the message, "41 years and a month. Seems like yesterday."

When it came out 41 years ago, all of us went to see it at the Theater.
We liked it but felt that it could have been a more accurate tale and less dramatized by Hollywood.

For example, Cal (Dennis Hopper) played Charley as a crazed-out old drunk which was not the case. Charley was only a maniac while racing Mulholland. I knew him as a mild mannered, nice Gentleman that was very knowledgeable about Chevrolet and especially Corvettes. I wish that I had gotten to know him better.

He worked on my SCCA Camaro a couple of times at the Station he worked at located at 3rd and Crescent Heights.

Charley was my inspiration. I could hear him from my bedroom every night he raced his Grand Sport Vette on Mul.
That was a very magical and special time for us all.

I was in that Mulholland Raceway site years ago, I sent them an email, about myself and why I wanted to visit and got access. I am terrible about keeping passwords and log ins some place where I can find them, so don't have those anymore. The group on there, had the vibe of being a bunch of young guys, discussing destinations they planned to drive, etc. Yes Clandestine. I didn't get the sense that they organized any type of organized road racing, but I am sure some do run their cars. Many clubs are more like minded social clubs. They toured my Turnbull Canyon, but that is way to short to have an experience as a touring destination. They wrote up a bad review of it as a Touring road. Dudes-- The 2.1 miles I mapped, and named back in the 1970s is a point to point Race track basically, not for Touring. Even the old Whittier Boulevard via East Road, to Fullerton road is a better touring road, and still too short for that type of experience. I can give you touring roads like Hwy 58 west of Bakersfield to Santa Margarita, or the G roads from Greenfield to Carmel Valley, etc., North of Ojai, north past Castaic Lake past the prison to the T, Classic Hwy. 2 from Pasedena to Wrightwood, Ortega Hwy. when the motorcycles aren't infesting it, etc. (Ps I ride Motorcycles myself, but ends up an old guy tourist destination on weekends). It is cool that they revere Mulholland. I think I ran across the guy with the Mosler many years ago, but a friend walked up and the conversation switched to them caughting up with one another. I said nice car and moved on, so didn't know he might have been an organizer.

I being a Corvette guy, I made a serious attempt at getting the true story of Charlie Woit. Anyone who looks all of that up, it was on Corvette Forum and a separate post here, that netted some acquaintances. The car was either a 1965/66 Coupe Blue, had some flares, etc... I am still not sure I have a shot or not of his car. I was personal friends of Dick Guldstrand and Doug Hooper (Both RIP), and had asked them both of Charlie, as I believe the car had Guldstrand products installed. I probably was one of Guldstrands longest term and most product purchasers, doing about 7 cars with his goods. Doug Hooper who won Riverside Raceway Production race in 1962, the first C2 victory ever, shop in the Valley, thought he remembered him, but didn't recall doing any business with him. Dick remembers selling stuff to him. Doug was a reserve Police Officer for Los Angeles County and his romps on Mulholland were fun stories to talk about. Guldstrand, used the road more for commuting, taking my Father's blue car home with him a few times, him giving my father a loaner Vette (his Red coupe for instance).


More and more of these humps are happening, and why I try to have fun away from civilization. Even my Turnbull gets a new house encroaching deeper and deeper into the canyon. We still have a pretty honest 2.1 miles without too much sound travel risk, if guys shut down prior to the summit, and ease thru the Start. I will be devastated if they install them there. My only real playground, test road. There is just too much civiliation.

I used to work in a shop in Montecito that shared space with a guy who was best friends with Charley Woit and knew his parents pretty well.

The guy said he spent a lot of time with Woit and was willing to do an interview about him and the car but I haven't had time to get to it yet. Charley had a lot of snakes apparently.

Mosler guy was pretty interesting to talk to. My boss stopped working on his car because he wanted it to run on 91 octane, C16, natural gas, and some other kind of fuel and my boss got fed up with "unrealistic expectations." Apparently when the car was sold it made much less power than reported. Was claiming 2500bhp out of a 381cu in. engine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkIepauST0s

^ cool video of some F3000 Hill Climbs they do in Europe. Imagine this on Mulholland!

Charlie was not a regular client of Guldstrand's though he did get advice and most likely parts he could not make , or adapt, himself.
The springs on the front of his vette came from a pick up truck, or station wagon (I forgot which he told me) The "flares" were flat panels of aluminum after he made arc cuts on the fenders. Painted flat black . Pics I showed him of the Gran Sports inspired the extra vents and holes in the tail. He kept the bumpers for legal purposes (HAH!) but removed the lower valence.
He had two sets of side pipes; one with mufflers and one without.
The super wide mag wheels were real magnesium that he bought at the Saugus Swap meet.
As a mechanic at a Chevron station, he did not make a lot of money, so he was inventive on doing as much as he could himself.
Once left the mechanic trade, he was more active in specialty gun purchases and sales. He still did some work out of his house out in the Saugus area. He modified a 911 gas tank for my friend's D prod race car , and some other small fabrication work. The Vette sat outside his house with the race tires flat on all four < That may have contributed to his crash and death. He was living his life with his wife and children, so the hill did not have the attraction that it once did.

The big 427's were not capable of long straight away time or hard cornering. The stock big block oil systems would pump all the oil up into the valve covers and starve the pick up and hence the bearings. Charlie blew up his engine at Willow , when a whole bunch of us entered the really loosely organized Old Timers Races there one year.
We had high hopes for Charlie kicking A** as Shelby brought out one of his coupes and a roadster. Ferrari Club came, some POC and SCCA racers came out. We brought a modified BMW 2002. The races were surprisingly civilized , given how loose the requirements were = ( You got a driver license? Pay the entry fee? Yah, you can race ) except for some poor guy with a TR2 that flipped coming out of 9 and had to be taken to the hospital.
Charlie did well in the first session, but come race time, the big block had expired.
Years later, I had the privilege of meeting his son when he bought a early GTI from one of our clients

If any of you Mulholland Raceway dick heads want my address you can DM me. I do not take any threats towards my family or my well being light heartedly.

Do not go through back channels if you have something to say to me. Contact me directly. Happy to give you my address and phone number so we can have a nice chat in person :)

Cowards.

You have an 800 number for these guys?

We lost another Mulholland Alumni
 

We lost another Mulholland Alumni.

Gary Hendrickson aka "Stilts". (August 2, 1943 - 2020)

Last time anyone had saw or heard from Gary was at Bob's Big Boy two years ago. I use to see him in North Hollywood and Burbank regularly tooling around in his 1915 Ford aka The Model Tetanus. Gary named the car Patina.
He was always a center of attention at Bob's Big Boy in costume with the Clampett hat and torn overalls. The Great Plague hit in 2020 and Gary vanished around September of that year.


He had been going to Bob's Big Boy since 1948 when his folks moved out to California from New York. Gary went to John Burroughs High School in Burbank where he played football and took off into stage production. He worked at Lockheed and the motion picture studios as a painter.

A Toluca Lake gear head had mentioned Gary had passed. Our Mulholland regulars called him "Old Man Gary". In reflection it was a title of respect when someone frequents Mulholland as long as he did and did it in a Ranchero.

Gary was an avid collector of cars, bicycles, movie props and memorabilia. Gary could be found regularly on Mulholland Drive reading a book sitting in one of his Ford Rancheros at an overlook. We all know how hard it is to get the road out of your blood. It never goes way.

Gary's house on Satsuma Street in North Hollywood was like a prop house slash swap meet slash treasure chest of history. The backyard was one continuous garage.
I learned a few things from him. He had quite a sense of humor and sometimes it was dry but if Gary didn't make you laugh or smile you probably had brain damage. The other thing is diversity in interests.

Gary had a rule. He would never own a car with an airbag.

His cruise night car was 105 years old and in original un-restored condition. 28 years older than him. Instead of a warranty it came with tetanus. He had a collection of high wheel bicycles that he kept operable and rode. He had another restored 1914 Ford in the corral as well as the Rancheros.

Gary was the creator of NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH and NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL.

Rest in peace buddy.


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Oh no! Gary was a really nice guy, and very kind to us "young" Mulhollanders. I would see him up there in his Ranchero every now and then. He even gave me one of his Mul Business Cards. I didn't realize he was also the Model T guy at Bob's Big Boy. Wow. Such a bummer to hear this. RIP.

Damn.... I remember him and the Ranchero well. I also remember him riding a hi-wheeler past grandstands one night.

Yep - that high wheeler bicycle and don't forget his primered 58-ish? gasser lifted Vette ! He pushed that car through the hill hard one night and proved himself to be a runner, not a talker
Unfortunately a couple of the CRE guys treated him cruelly sabotaging the Vette when he had parked in in Grandstands one night. He never parked that car up there again
Didn't he work for Lockheed painting various graphics and numbers on the planes ? He was called "No Step" because of that too.
That Ranchero was seen for years as he commuted in the Valley
RIP

Respect.
R.P.S.P.
Rest in Power, Speed & Peace

Gary Hendrickson
 

Thanks for your post Jeff.
We had talked about this a few weeks ago.

I met Gary in 1976 when John Hall introduced him to me at Grandstands.
He was mild mannered, polite, and had a slew of great stories about Mulholland.
His Ranchero had a large Arrow painted on both of it's sides, hence his car's nickname Ranch-Arrow/Ranch -Aero. He could be seen nightly parked across from Grandstands.

He helped contribute to The Mulholland Experience Book and the photo above was taken at the Debut and Book signing at The Peterson Museum. Pictured from left to right is John Hall, Mark Mitchell, Bart Rome, and Gary Hendrickson. The white shirts that you see were made for the Book signing and have the book's title on the front.

Gary spent many nights on Mulholland, probably several thousand nights.
He did like to go up to Mul to read in his Ranch-aero, especially in later years after the Racecourse was shut down.

His house on Satsuma in North Hollywood was down the street from my Girlfriend Donna's house who I dated in the late 70's and early 80's.
As the years passed Gary and I ran into each other fewer and fewer times. We would talk on the phone a couple of times a year just to say hello. I heard he was parking and reading further east on Mulholland closer to Woodrow Wilson Drive.

He was a true Mulholland Character and Regular for decades and will be missed.
As the years pass by, those from the original days of organized Racing, the named Groups, and special persons like Gary are slowly disappearing into History.
It was a very special time in America and on Mulholland.
I wish that everyone who has read this Thread can get a taste of what it was like.
For all of us, it was The Mulholland Experience.
Rest in Peace Gary, you will not be forgotten.